WESTERN Visayas (Region 6) has been the top region in the country for hiring persons with disabilities (PWDs) for government jobs for two years running, data released by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) showed.
Out of 8,248 PWDs in the government workforce nationwide as of June 30, 2024, the region accounted for 1,701 (20.62 percent) and 1,699 (20.67 percent) out of 8,218 PWDs employed as of June 2023.
These numbers become even more significant when placed side by side with the latest Inventory of Government Human Resources (IGHR) report showing that there are only 142,468 career and non-career civil servants in Western Visayas or just 6.99 percent of the 2.037 million national total.
Western Visayas is composed of the provinces of Iloilo, Antique, Negros Occidental, Guimaras, Aklan, and Capiz and the independent cities of Iloilo City and Bacolod City.
The National Capital Region (NCR), which accounts for 425,927 (20.9 percent) of all government civil service workers, only has 1,600 PWDs in the payrolls of various government agencies, good for the No. 2 spot.
On the other hand, Region 4 (Mimaropa and Calabarzon) which has the second highest number of civil servants with 261,338 (12.83 percent), employs only 970 PWDs.
Based on the CSC data, more male PWDs have found employment in government with 4,592 compared to 3,656 for females.
CSC chair Karlo Nograles has advocated hiring differently-abled Filipinos with a reminder to government agencies to promote inclusive human resources practices by enforcing the Equal Opportunity Principle (EOP) in recruitment and appointment processes.
The EOP aims to remove barriers and discrimination during the selection process as well as ensure equal access to learning and development interventions regardless of factors such as sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, civil status, disability, religion, ethnicity, or political affiliation.
